


Unexpected possibility of loss

by paxbanana



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 15:47:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17870132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paxbanana/pseuds/paxbanana
Summary: For the first time, Korra faces the abrupt, painful possibility of Naga's death. (Place in the World verse, but it can be read standalone.)





	Unexpected possibility of loss

When Asami called Korra during her lunch break to say that Naga wasn’t acting right, Korra didn’t think much of it until she called her back and heard the undisguised worry in Asami’s voice.

_“She’s just lying there, drinking water. She had an accident in the kitchen, Korra. I think she’s sick. Can you come and at least tell me I’m being stupid?”_

Asami’s worry as much as her description made Korra cancel the rest of her firebending lesson to fly straight home to the townhouse. Asami was in the kitchen, murmuring soothingly to Naga. Just like her voice, Asami’s face communicated worry.

Korra smoothed her hand over Naga’s snout and coaxed a tail wag but not Naga's usual enthusiastic greeting. Korra peeled up her lip and felt her heart sink. Naga’s gums were white. “She’s been drinking a lot?”

“Anything I put in front of her.” Asami’s worry was fragile. “She’s sick, isn’t she?”

“She’s…” Korra smoothed her hands down Naga’s sides and felt the fluid in her belly with her watersense. “Yeah.”

She got up, couldn’t remember the phone number of any of her contacts at the animal medicine department of RU, and called Wu at the former Sato Estate. He’d been paying Asami a small sum monthly for the last few years with twenty to go on their private mortgage. Mako’s cousin picked up, and after a tense minute, Wu’s cheerful voice came over the line. _“Hello, beautiful. Caught me on my day off.”_

That was a tease, but she couldn’t respond to it. “Naga’s bleeding into her belly, I think. I couldn’t remember who to call at the animal medicine department at the university. Can you help me?”

He was calm but immediately serious. _“Right away. What’s going on?”_

“Asami came home for lunch, and Naga didn’t get up to greet her. She pooped in the kitchen and has been guzzling water. Her gums are white.”

_“Sit tight. We’ll have transport come to you. You’re at the townhouse?”_

“Yeah.”

“What does this mean?” Asami asked after Korra got off the phone.

“She’s hurt. I don’t know how, but it’s bad.” Korra leaned down to kiss Naga’s forehead. “You’re a good girl. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Naga licked her hand and sighed.

Fifteen minutes later, someone knocked on their door. Asami immediately left the kitchen to open the door; Korra could hear her unlock both doors. Three people walked into the kitchen with a massive stretcher. Korra looked up at them and went into action. Naga was coaxed to lie down on the stretcher, and then more people filed into the townhouse to lift and shuffle. Within a few minutes, Naga was on the back of a big van.

Wu pulled up, wearing a dapper suit but no characteristic smile to share this afternoon. “I’ll drive Asami. You ride with them, Korra.”

A lot of stuff happened on the van:  blood samples drawn, catheters placed, another waterbender feeling Naga’s body over. They started a fluid drip that consisted of Naga getting as much fluid as possible straight into her vein. One of the doctors spoke on a walkie talkie to the zoo in the city.

The whole time, Korra was useless. She rubbed Naga’s forehead and murmured to her that she was a good girl. “I love you, Naga. You did good, okay? Keep holding on for me.”

Naga sighed into her hand and gave her another gentle lick.

When they arrived at the university, everyone and all their energy unloaded Naga and swept her into a big, clean room. One of the personnel, a student, led Korra away from that energy to a waiting area. She pointed out coffee, tea, and water. There were a few other people waiting, but they seemed more impatient than struggling to keep it together.

Korra wasn’t sure how long she sat alone until Asami rushed up. “Wu’s going to see what’s happening.”

All she'd been thinking about was Naga's last memory of her. Seeing Asami there made the grief well up tight and choke her. “I don’t know what I’ll do if she dies.”

“Oh, Korra.” Asami’s eyes filled with tears, and she pulled Korra to her. Korra cried into her shoulder, terrified and already mourning. It had just been so fast. Yesterday, Naga had been her normal sweet, energetic self. She’d eaten well last night and this morning before Korra left for Air Temple Island. Korra had imagined she’d see Naga age and would know what was coming for months while Naga faded, but this had been a matter of hours.

Korra wasn’t ready to lose her.

When Korra was calmer, Asami made herself coffee. She set a cup of tea beside Korra. “Pre-bagged. Best I could do.”

“It’s tea,” Korra said woodenly.

Asami wrapped an arm over her shoulders and stroked her arm. “She’s in the best place she can be. And we’re lucky enough not to have to worry about how to fund this.”

Suddenly a hypothetical dilemma became heartbreakingly tragic. “Wu talked about that. That money for animals is play money, the stuff left over. I can’t imagine having to not treat her because we don’t have the money.”

“They have to charge for services, Korra. The government doesn’t fun animals' healthcare like ours.”

“I know that. I don’t blame them.”

Asami squeezed her fingers. “We could set up a foundation that donates for cover funds for people who can’t afford to have their pets treated.”

It was amazing how Asami could find ways to problem solve. She was a solution-giver. Even if she couldn’t start the foundation off with a hefty donation of her own, they had the means to request donations—finding another financial backer. Korra couldn’t concentrate on the thought longer than to say, “That would be good.”

“There’s Wu!” Asami was on her feet faster than Korra, striding toward him with purpose. Korra hastened to follow, her heart in her throat.

Wu had exchanged his suit for loose plain nurse’s clothing. He wore a cloth cap over his hair. Wu gave a tired smile. “I just wanted to give you an update, okay? Naga’s doing okay. We’re having as many units of blood as we can get driven over by the zoo’s polar bear dogs. Good thing Professor Liu’s been doing research on their blood typing. Anyway, they think that Naga’s spleen is the problem; it’s bleeding into her abdomen. Sometimes it’s caused by just a big bruise.”

“Cancer can do it too, right?” Korra said with a fresh worry. She remembered her mother and Katara discussing it before. The sled dogs sometimes would die from it.

He sighed at her, giving a soft half-smile. “Yes. But Naga’s not old for a polar bear dog, and there’s no evidence of any cancer spread. We won’t know until we evaluate her spleen. The surgery is going to be touch and go, but she’s in the best hands she can be. Do we have permission to proceed with surgery?”

“Is there another option?”

Wu motioned for Korra to sit and sat down beside her. He took her hand. He was gentle and nonjudgmental as he said, “Humane euthanasia is an option.”

“Do the surgery,” Korra replied, her throat tight.

“There’s a question I have to ask, and it sucks, but it would be worse if I didn’t ask now. If Naga’s heart stops, there are different options of resuscitation. The first one is that we step back and let her go. The second option is performing chest compressions and resuscitation efforts.”

“What do you think?”

Wu sighed. “If it’s during surgery, we should try to resuscitate. If she arrests unrelated to anesthesia, the chances are we won’t get her back anyway.”

In the face of Korra's horrified silence, Asami answered firmly. “Resuscitate. It won’t hurt to try.”

Wu’s brows drew together, and he seemed to fight tears himself. He crouched down and opened his arms, and Korra accepted his hug. “Thanks,” she told him as she sat back. Wu wiped his eyes. “I’ll keep you updated, but it may be a few hours before we get out of surgery.”

“You’re going to assist?”

“Yeah. I got the zoo animal department internship.”

Korra wished she was in the right mind frame to congratulate him on something he’d been preparing for for years. “Congratulations.”

His smile was similarly subdued. “Asami, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Asami got up, and they murmured quietly together. Korra heard the word ‘thousand’, and Asami shook her head. Wu nodded as Asami signed a form. When they returned, Wu said, “Why don’t you guys go take a walk around the grounds? I can find a student to show you through the facility if you’d like.”

“We’ll take a walk, but we’ll stay in the area.”

Korra went along with Asami’s request, and they walked through the garden next to the school. Asami held her close. It was a beautiful spring day, but Korra was entirely detached from her surroundings. “I’m going to get us some food. Do you want to come with me or stay?”

“Stay.”

“Okay.” Asami kissed her gently. “I’ll be back soon.”

Time was hard to comprehend. Korra sat with her arms folded under her armpits, and she didn’t know what to do or feel. She hoped; of course she hoped. But she realized she’d already given up on Naga in some way. This was a place in between knowing and not, and it sucked.

Asami returned with a hot sandwich. Korra ate it for lack of something better to do. Asami jolted suddenly. “I need to call work. They probably have no idea where I am.”

She used the phone in the lobby and returned shortly. “Word got out. There are people calling the public radio station giving their well-wishes. Do you want to listen?”

Korra only shook her head.

* * *

The sun was setting by the time a group of doctors approached. Wu was with them, and he gave a thumb’s up that knocked the wind from Korra’s chest. The gray-haired man at the front held out his hand. “I’m Dr. Liu.”

Korra stood up to shake his hand. He smiled, all calm confidence. “She made it through surgery."

Asami's gasp of relief echoed the emotion that was too strong for Korra to express. Her hand caught Korra's, and she squeezed hard. Korra sank back into Asami's strong frame as Dr. Liu continued, "We removed her spleen, stopped the bleeding, and her pressures remained fairly good through it all. Naga’s being monitored closely now as she’s recovering. Would you like to see her?”

Korra hadn't realized she was crying until she felt moisture on her cheeks. She nodded eagerly. “Yeah, please.”

They walked through large stalls, past ostrich horses, komodo rhinos, and one irritated eel hound. Wu opened a large padded stall. Naga lay there on her side. Her belly had been shaved, and there was a sutured incision that ran most of it. She had two fluid bags draining into a catheter taped into her front leg, and several personnel were monitoring her.

“Naga.”

Naga lifted her head, and her tail gave one thump before she set them both back down. Korra approached and found room to settle beside her head. She rubbed her forehead and cheeks, flicking away a crust at the corner of her eye. There was grease all around her eyes, but the detail didn’t seem important, not when Korra focused on the soft brown of her eyes. She leaned close to kiss Naga's forehead. “Hey, girl. How you doing? Rough day, huh?”

Naga licked her hand with the tip of her tongue. She shifted her eyes to Asami and gave another little tail thump. Asami kissed her forehead too. “Look how good you’re doing. Good girl.”

They visited for a little while before Dr. Liu and Wu—he was a doctor now too, come to think of it—led them away. Dr. Liu went through the possibilities and next steps:  recovery in hospital, no hard play for four weeks, and within the week they should know if the mass was cancer or not. If it was cancer, Naga’s longterm prognosis was poor, but they had a new protocol of what he called chemical therapy to try to target and kill cancer cells.

After Liu left, Wu said, “Don’t tell him I said this, but we’re all hopeful it was just a hematoma. In dogs, it’s fifty-fifty, so we’ll hope.”

* * *

Korra didn’t get much done over the following week. She visited Naga when allowed, which was once a day. Naga ate when Korra coaxed her to on the third day, which made everyone happy. She was strong enough to get up to go outside to urinate and defecate, but posturing obviously hurt her.

She was getting stronger every day, and all of her nurses and doctors loved her. They drew a sign for Naga that designated she was the HONORARY BEST PATIENT and BEWARE THE LICKS and UNIVERSAL WINNER OF DOG AND BEAR CUTENESS. It warmed Korra that Naga was so obviously loved. Though Dr. Liu was a bit stiff, all of the students that took care of Naga gushed about how sweet she was.

Wu called Korra on Air Temple Island on Naga’s fifth day after surgery. _“We rushed and double-checked and triple-checked. The pathologists all chose representative samples, but they don’t see cancer.”_

Korra heaved a deep sigh of relief as weight dropped from her shoulders. She pinched her nose between her fingers to fight her tears as much as she could. Not cancer. Naga was going to be okay.

“When can she come home?”

_“Tonight if you can arrange the transport.”_

Asami had ordered another big bed for Naga downstairs, and they both knew they’d be sharing the couch to stay with her. Thirty days of rest was going to be difficult, but Wu said they could walk her for about a quarter hour per day. Naga was coming home, and she was going to be just fine.

* * *

Naga seemed happy to be home. She grinned, and her tail wagged as she climbed out of the van on her own. They hadn’t advertised their plans to bring her home, so there weren’t many people loitering. A few photographers took pictures, but Asami and Korra ignored the requests to look over and pose.

Naga ate enthusiastically and then sniffed her new bed before she lay down and chewed on the new toy Asami got her. She took her medication without issue, and Korra finally felt complete relief flood her. She was going to have her polar bear dog back safe and sound.

She and Asami shared dinner on the couch and turned the radio on for soft background music.

“I was so scared,” Asami admitted. “Probably not as scared as you were, but I’m so glad she’s back.”

“Yeah.” Korra set her head on Asami’s shoulder. “You were a rock though. I don’t think I could have held it together without you. How much did it all end up costing?”

“Money is worthless to me; Naga matters. A flood of donations came in to Future Industries and apparently the White Lotus. I’m paying the bill, but maybe we can use that money to fund the donation we talked about—for people who can’t afford treatment on medical emergencies in their pets.”

“I love you. You know that, right?”

“I love you too, Korra.” Asami kissed the top of her head. “And I love you, Naga.” Korra felt Asami reach out to rub Naga’s ear, and Naga’s tail lifted in a lazy wag. She sighed and snuggled back into her new dog bed.

All in place again, her little family back together again.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as catharsis when I lost my cat unexpectedly last year. Found it again while poking around my files. Sometimes these situations do have a happy ending.


End file.
